The First Ever Midorea Lounge~ Newbie Sanctuary and TODs

[KaceyCat]

My dad's the person who sews most in my family, since he used to be in the Navy, fixing parachutes and stuff. I've picked up some of it, in that I'm adequate if I take my time. He's got a decent sewing machine, and I think a really old one in the garage from about the time he was in the Navy.

Welp, this is it! Soon I have to go to graduation! Maybe y'all can see some pictures afterward, if you want. *shrug* On a side note, my scar's hurting. That means it's probably going to start raining again soon. >.< It's been raining all week, and earlier was an absolute downpour! This is going to be a long graduation ceremony, there's over 300 of us graduating. Bye folks, talk to ya soon!

[EltaIncalescent]

Congrats on graduating, Kacey!

[KaceyCat]

Thank you~! Not only is it Friday the 13th, it's also a full moon, and there was a major thunder/lightning/rain storm all day, continuing now. Yup, mos definitely my graduation!

[EltaIncalescent]

A perfect storm. Sadly, my graduation on Tuesday will probably be less cool. I still can't believe it's so soon, wow.

[Angelic.Demon]

Congradulations Kacey! Happy to hear you graduated, though sorry to hear about that weather if that ruined any of it xD

How are you all? I'm tired. Had a loong car trip today.

I"m actually trying to sew something this summer! I've got a project for a beach/picnic blanket with my mom to help me with. I know how to sew, but I prefer working with her ^^

[EltaIncalescent]

I'm tired because I'm helping set up stuff at my school and now my knees hurt a lot. I'm also avoiding work by sifting through the PBS Idea Channel because oh my god that place is addictive, I can't stop watching it aaaa

Working with people on projects is always the best, in my opinion

[Angelic.Demon]

I'm tired because I've been travel a bunch and working and finally i can relax xD

Topic of Discussion #2
Redskins Logo, offensive or no?

You may or may not be a football fan (American football that is), but I do have a simple question about football that everyone can answer. I'm not a huge football fan, but this Redskins logo agrument has reached national media status and caught my attention as something maybe you guys could give me some insight on c:
Obviously redskins was an offensive term, but is a national football team that people root for really causing harm? The native american tribes are against the name to the point that the patent office denied the NFL team their patent (which may or may not be fair, what do you think?), but many Native Americans that I know have never shown any dislike for the team name, just indifference. Why do you think that is? Do you known anyone who is Native American, and do they take offense to it? What do you think the NFL team would change their name too then? I really don't know how I feel about this, and I'd love to hear what you guys think. c:

Bonus Points to whoever can come up with the most creative NFL team mascot U:

[EltaIncalescent]

Forewarning: I am white and am only saying the arguments that I've heard from various people who are affected by this issue
Well, redskins is a racial slur, plain and simple. It's used to dehumanize and disenfranchise a minority that has a long history of being hurt by the majority population of this country. Even if some people are ok with the term that does not erase the history or meaning behind it and the only people who have any right to reclaim or redefine it are the people it is used against(this is true of any slur, see also, parts of the LGBT/MOGII community starting to use queer to describe themselves(this I can speak on with authority because I am a part of this community))
And honestly I think a big part of the problem is that the team owners, and many other places who use such names for sports teams, are trying argue that they're 'respecting' the Native American population with things like this while presenting a distorted and racist caricature of that population.
In the end even if only a few people in the Native American population are hurt by this then we still have to listen to them and give their words and feelings the weight they deserve because they've already been silenced and talked over enough.
Wow this got really long, I'm sorry.

[Angelic.Demon]

xD That's fine! I like hearing your opinion c:
Honestly, I'm not gonna be surprised when the mascot changes soon. Now that the patent's gone, I doubt the owners will want to stick with the mascot. The public doesn't like it AND they won't make money? I doubt they'll keep it xP

The one thing I don't agree with it is the "right to reclaim or redefine it are the people it is used against." To me, if a word is so harmful to the group, why should they use it so casually and be fine with it? I understand that reclaiming it is supposed to give back power, but I still don't find it right. I hate hearing the n word, I hate hearing people so callously calling each other bitches, and any other word. Those words still have hate attached to them in my mind, even if the hate is being spread among those it was intended to harm.


Also, Sam Smith is the best male singer I've heard in such a long time. It makes me sooo happy.

[fickle]

i think it's best they change their name cos it's hurting the team and native americans. desensitizing people to racial terms takes a long time, centuries, but it's important imo. the n word is still going through this process, it'll take a long time for people to disassociate it with it's origin and find new meaning in it. where i grew up, there were people of all races using the term, mostly black people ofc, hispanic, and white people. to them it meant something like "buddy" or "friend" and no one was offended cos everyone knew that they werent using it in a racist way. using it in such a small scale away from the public gives people the chance to develop trust in eachother and be ok with such language, this way of living will be passed onto their children, grandchildren, etc. this is how it'll get better imo. definitions of words change over time (etymology), racial slurs may take a little longer for change because of the pain it originated with, and a public platform doesnt give it enough room for change to occur. as it is now, having a sports team called redskins isnt progressing it to mean something different because it's such a wide scale, it's affecting a lot of people all across america, it would be different in a small social groups where change would be emergent for generations.

i think all it's doing now is creating a barrier between native americans and americans. story time? my sister told me i was white and all of my siblings agreed. i was really young to understand anything, but looking back now, because she said that and other people agreed, i found it hard to find acceptance in my puerto rican culture (which is a mixed race, we were all young and ignorant of that at the time), i always felt like an outcast even when people werent thinking about my skin. and it made me feel like i was doing something wrong if i enjoyed anything associated with the hispanic culture, i had a strong subconscious feeling that it wasnt for me. i can see the name of the team causing that same feeling for native americans. it puts up a barrier between the two cultures, they may find it hard to find acceptance among their peers of different races and other cultures, it enables the distrust of white people, and people may feel wrong for enjoying the american culture. it's best for now if they change their name because it's disabling the mingling of people and mixing/merging of cultures.

[EltaIncalescent]

I understand what you're saying, Angelic, but I think in some cases it's really important to take back words in communities. It gives the power of self determination and self definition back to marginalized groups.
Like, I'm bisexual and I'm dating a demisexual man. We both use the word 'queer' in our self definition, and know others who do as well. One, in younger generations of LGBT community it doesn't have the same connotations and two, if you are already calling yourself queer because that's how you self identify, if someone calls you queer then it doesn't have the same weight since it's your word. This does not give permission to people outside these groups to use these words, especially to harm marginalized groups. That just maintains the status quo of oppressive power imbalance. But in the end, reclaiming slurs within marginalized groups is an act of radical self definition that gives power back to the people in them.
And obviously if people in these groups don't want these words used on them, you listen to them. But that goes back to the whole 'if you aren't in this group you do not get to use these words' thing.

[Angelic.Demon]

OH god, its been forever since I visted here, sorry ^^"

Been working and celebrating birthdays and all. And I've got to do some cooking today, but I wanted to start with a Happy Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans! I hope you day is filled with cook outs and fireworks galore U:

Would you mind explaining what demisexual is? I've actually never heard that term before ^^

[Katsuya]

As I understand it, a demisexual is someone who only becomes sexually attracted to someone once they've formed a close bond with that person. I.e., there's no sexual attraction to strangers.

I've seen the word a few times but haven't knowingly spoken to someone who identifies as demisexual before, so I'm open to correction on that definition.

[EltaIncalescent]

That is in fact correct, thank you. And like. Not all people who have formed close bonds, obviously, but yeah.

Also hello I'm back I've been camping with my boyfriend, yes

[Angelic.Demon]

Sorry guys! I've been busy with work and vacation, so I haven't gotten on much. How are you all? c:

I feel a strange mix of relaxed and stressed. And I have no idea why I'm stressed xD